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HAMBURG, N.Y. – The Teagle Foundation’s Board of Directors has approved a grant of $230,000 to Hilbert College, St. Bonaventure University, Erie Community College, and Jamestown Community College for the project, “A New Structure for General Education.” The grant will be funded over three years.

This collaborative proposal brings together four Western New York institutions for the purpose of revising general education requirements that will help improve learning outcomes and processes for all students, including those who transfer between these institutions. The project seeks to rework the general education curricula to reflect a common set of learning outcomes and create a more coherent experience for all students.

National and regional trends are expected to affect enrollment within institutions of higher learning across Western New York. Consequently, institutions in Western New York must re-think how higher education functions and develop initiatives aimed at collaborative efficiencies.

This initiative will be a faculty-led rethinking of how learning objectives can help ensure student success. In addition, this innovative partnership between public and private, 2-year and 4-year institutions will be able to serve as a model for additional collaborations.

About the Teagle Foundation
The Teagle Foundation was established in 1944 by Walter C. Teagle (1878-1962), longtime President and later Chairman of the Board of Standard Oil Company (New Jersey), now Exxon Mobil Corporation. It has a broad mandate “to advance the well-being and general good of mankind throughout the world” and over the years the Foundation has made grants in many areas, always, however, with an emphasis on the aid Mr. Teagle envisioned for “institutions of higher learning and research.” - See more at: http://www.teaglefoundation.org/About/News/Press-Release?id=1179

Hilbert College, located in suburban Hamburg, N.Y., south of Buffalo, is a private four-year college founded in 1957 in the Catholic Franciscan tradition. With nearly 1,100 students, Hilbert is a dynamic Western New York college that offers career-focused majors, including one of the top criminal justice programs in the region, and more than 50 minors and concentrations. The college’s engaging, student-centered campus community offers numerous leadership, internship, and service learning opportunities from which students launch successful careers while making positive changes in their communities. The Hilbert Blueprint promotes a well-rounded student experience over four years – starting with the Foundations Seminar in the freshman year, followed by Sophomore Service, Junior Symposium, and culminating with the Senior Capstone. Hilbert has expanded its academic offerings with the college’s first graduate programs and new Accelerated Degree Programs geared to adult learners.